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ADDRESS: 



THOMAS II. STOCKTON, 



CHAPLAIN XJ. S. H. K. 



IN THE HALL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



T-<-. 




THE DAY OF NATIONAL HUMILIATION, FASTING, AND PRAYER. 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1861. 



^ASniKOTON: 

PRINTED B-K 

1801. 



.5: 



PREFATORY NOTE. 

The Washington Constitution of January 4Lh represented the Chap- 
lain of the House as performing his duties like a political partisan. 
On this account, the Chaplain made the following statement to his au- 
ditory, in commencement of the Fast-Day service : 

"Before I begin my address I am induced, by an editorial in the 
Constitution of this morning, to say, once for all, that I am no p ar- 
tisan, EITHER IN Church or State, but try to improve the little 

OF LIFE AND STRENGTH LEFT TO ME BY SPEAKING FOR 60D AND FOR 

HUMANITY. Conscience, when enlightened by the Bible and sub- 
ject TO ITS authority, IS MORE THAN THE ChAPLAINCY, MORE THAN 

THE Presidency, or any other position on earth." 

Tsvo days after, (January 6tb,) in its Sunday k&ue^ the Constitution 
thus returned to its rebuting : 

"STUMP ORATORY FROM THE PULPIT. 
"The Rev. Mr. Stockton, the Chaplain of tlie House of Representatives, 
availed himself of the Day of Huuiiliatioo, and the pretext of a sermon, to in- 
dulge in a display of stump oratory and rampant partisanship. He exhausted 
his vocabviary of contemptuous expletives upon South Carolina, and fulminated 
more than mortal threats against the States that shall dare to imitate her exam-- 
pie. And he was rewarded for his pains by repeated rounds of applause from 
a crowded audience, a circumstance which will enable the distant reader to 
comprehend the sanctity of the reverend gentleman's performance. Next time 
we may expect to hear that boquets are showered upon him by fair hands, and 
that stentorian lungs honor him with cries of oncore. To that complexion is i' 
coming fast." 

As to the " repeated rounds of applause," there were only two occa- 
sions on which a restrained foot-roll was heard, and this instantly 
subsided ; as to the sentence put in italics., the reader of the Address 
will have the opportunity of judging of the veracity of the Constitu- 
tion for himself. The truth is, as will be seen, that the chief object of 
the address was to show, on so favorable an occasion, that the neces- 
sity of securing personal salvation, through faith in Clirist, is even more 
imperative than the present pressing demand for the restoration of 
national harmony and peace. On the latter subject, indeed, the ad- 
dress is fragmentary. Much more might have been said, and probably 
would have been, but for want of time and strength. 



ADDRESS. 



I.— THE OCCASION. 

On this day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer, 
recommended by the President, and accepted by the people, 
I desire, from this official position, to address to my country- 
men, with equal frankness and reverence, a few words, in the 
name and by the blessing of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost, to whom be all glory, as it was in the be- 
ginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen. 

Two months ago, the Governors of our States, with unex- 
ampled richness of occasion and unanimity of grateful joy, 
invited their fellow-citizens to unite in the celebration of a 
day of thanksgiving and praise. Then there was no Section 
of the sky, suspended over any section of the globe, within 
whose cloudless horizon lay such a Domain of grandeur, 
beauty, plenty, and peace, or such a Society of personal, do- 
mestic, civil, and religious freedom, wisdom, puritj'-, power. 
and glory, as glittered upon the vision of men, and saints, 
and angels, and Christ, and of God Himself, the Father of 
all, within the golden circle of the American Union. It 
might well have been anticipated that, on the opening of the 
appointed and hallowed festival, there would go up, through 
the serene and benignant brightness, to the very throne and 
heart of the Highest, such a concert of hallelujahs as n<i 
nation on earth ever offered before. But, was it so? Alas, 
though the day was so fair, and the feast so bountiful, and so 
many divided families re-collected in old liomesteads, and the 
laugh of childhood was clear as the tinkling of a cymbaL 
and the songs of youtlis and maidens were merry as the 
chimes of a wedding, still, among all the mature and thought- 
ful, and over all the elders of the land, tliere was a chilling 
gloom of shame, sorrow, and fear, and, in all the temples of 
religion, the cheerful tributes for Divine mercy in the past 
were checked, if not subdued, by lamentations over proeenr 
human folly, and deprecations of future wrath and woe. 

And what now ? Two weeks after Thanksgiving another 
proclamation was heard — not made by a Governor and limited 



to a State, but proceeding from the President and extending 
" througliout the Union." " Numerous appeals" had been 
made to him, " by pious and patriotic associations and citi- 
zens, in view of the present distracted and dangerous condi- 
tion of our country, to recommend that a dav be set apart for 
Ilnmiliation, Fasting, and Prayer," and, "in compliance with 
their request, and (his) own sense of duty," he designated this 
day, "Friday, the 4th day of January, 1861, for this purpose." 

Marvelous revolution ! Hark ! " The Union of the Slates 
is at the j)resent moment threatened with alarming and im- 
mediate danger!" Two months ago, how different! Again: 
"Panic and distress of a fearful character prevail throughout 
the land!" Two months ago, how different ! Again: "Our 
laboring population are without employment, and conse- 
quently deprived of the means of earning their bread!" Two 
months ago, how different! Again: "Indeed, hope seems to 
have deserted the minds of men. All classes are in a state 
of confusion and dismay, and the wisest counsels of our best 
and purest men are wholly disregarded !" From all this, how 
different, only two months ago ! 

And so, in solemn haste, we are turned back to " the God 
of our fathers," as our only " resort for relief," " from the aw- 
ful effects of our crimes and follies." Instead of coming for 
thanksgiving — though we have still infinitely more to be 
thankful for than we are worthy to enjoy — we come in self- 
abasement, with self-aifliction, and to pour out our souls in 
most penitent and earnest supplication. Well may we thus 
come, for, this day, there is no section of the sky, suspended 
over any section of the globe, within whose clouded, flashing, 
and muttering horizon, such scenes are witnessed of ingrati- 
tude toward God, disparagement of blessings, dishonor of 
national and universal brotherhood, intent madness of fanati- 
cism and pride, and territic imminence of all possible, un- 
speakable, and perhaps endless evils, as those which disgrace 
and threaten to destroy, from centre to circumference, in sight 
of all mankind, this same American Union. 

Let us humble ourselves, is the exhortation of our Chief 
Magistrate; let us confess our sins; let us implore the removal 
of false pride ; let us beseech God to restore friendship and 
good will ; to save us from the horrors of civil wai-, and not 
desert us, but " remember us as he did our fathers in the 
darkest days of the Revolution, and preserve our Constitution 



and onr Union, tlie works of their Lands, for ages yet to come." 
Amen ! and let all the people say, Amen ! 

II.— THE ANTI-CHRISTS OF THE AGE. 

Bnt, just here, I come to a more timely, more important, 
and most imperative duty. Some may regard it as a diverg- 
ence from the proprieties of the occasion. But, I know that 
it is not. I know that the day, the place, the interests of the 
auditory, and of the outer auditory, even though it be of the 
continent or the world, demand such an utterance. In making 
it, I only attempt, by gracious assistance, 

"To reach the height of this great argument 
And vindicate the ways of God to men." 

See ! IsTow, as of old, " there are many Anti-Christs in the 
world : persons, parties, powers ; infidels, artistic, scientific, 
philosophic, economic; from the merest sceptics to the sheer- 
est deists, atheists, and anti-theists : these, with their inven- 
tions, theories, systems, and instruments of influence. Con- 
stitutionally, educationally, by proud and vain self-culture, 
and by the clique venom of mutual flattery and impious pre- 
tension, these enemies of God and man, taken just as they 
stand, in sum total of life, are haughty, contemptous, narrow- 
minded, ignorant, shallow to simple shimmering, incapable 
of appreciating or even apprehending the highest truth; blind, 
deaf, dumb, thoughtless, and heartless to the whole spiritual 
universe, and yet, captivated by innumerable brilliant but 
deceptive idealities, hallucinations of super-loftiness, with all 
manner of unequalled sublimities and elegancies of intellec- 
tual and moral contemplation. These are the Anti-Christs. 
They do not know Christ. They despise Ilim. They hate 
Ilim. They oppose Him. They say — anything but Christ! 
I need not call them fools. But one who was inspired of God 
did style tliem fools, and, therefore, on Divine authority, 
which is decisive, they are fools. 

These Anti-Christs, like their master, are imitators, meagre 
and miserable imitators. Rejecting Christ's redemption, they 
fashion a substitute. Redemption ? Certainly. What ! hu- 
man perfectibility true? Unquestionably. And actual per- 
fection in prospect ? Most assuredly. In a word, say they, 
we, too, have an Evangel, a glorious Evangel, and our 
Evangel is, "There's a good time coming!" But, where is 
it coming ? To all the world. And how will it be marked ? 



Well, the soil will be more fruitful, the air more healthful, 
social- conditions more equal, and life, nearly or quite exempt 
from disease, will be greatly prolonged. And when shall this 
good time come ? Within the lapse of the innumerable and 
immeasurable ages. And by w^hose miraculoiis advent will 
it be introduced? Oh! we have nothing to do wnth advents 
or miracles. We have long since discarded the fables of our 
childhood. It will happen so. It will be the natural result 
of the common and magnificent progress of our race. It will 
be the final triumph of the march of mind. And so, to the 
demoniac music of such a march as this, tramp, tramp ; tramp, 
tramp ; the hosts of Anti-Christ push through the darkness of 
time to the blackness of darkness in eternity. Sin in the past, 
sin in the present, and sin in the future ; sorrow in the past, 
sorrow in the present, and sorrow in the future ; death in the 
past, death in the present, and death in the future ; sin, sor- 
row, and death, all, utterly, and forever unredeemed — this is 
'* the good time coming," the Evangel of Satan, the salvation 
of the world without a Saviour ! 

And so, at this stage of human progress, when it is in- 
quired — what does the w^orld need? these enthusiasts of super- 
ficial enchantments reply: Let Japan be thrown open to com- 
merce ; let China, dust her buttons at the feet of the allied 
barbarians ; let Russia annex Turkey ; let France annex Spain ; 
let England annex Egypt, let Hungary-humble Austria, and 
let the unity of Italy be completed by the subjugation of 
Yenetia and the submission of Rome. But is this wdiat the 
•yc'orld needs ? 

And just so at home! Here, therefore, under all this pres- 
sure of the burden of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer, 
in the very crisis of our civil destiny, I justify this pause, this 
broader view, this introduction and consideration of interests, 
still superior, and iiifinitely superior, to those which we de- 
plore as so awfully imperilled. Hear me, therefore, this day, 
() my fellow-men, fellow-citizens, fellow-christians ! hear me 
this day, if ye never hear me again, and remember my teach- 
ing of this hour, if all my other teaching shall be forgotten 
forever. Especially, ye disciples of Anti-Christ, listen this 
ouce to one of Christ's disciples — a disciple not without hope, 
however unworthy ; listen and think, if ye can think, and feel, 
if ye can feel, and pray, even though ye never prayed before, 
that ye may think wisely, feel truly, and after all be saved. 



What, then, do wo need ? Docs the Highest behokl, from 
His throne in Heaven, that this day is observed with due sin- 
cerity and solemnity throughout all our land ? Is our humili- 
ation acceptable ? our fasting acceptable ? our prayer accep- 
table? Are all our exercises acceptable, through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord ? And is the heart-of our Father moved in our be- 
half, and does He incline to ansTyer our petitions? Then lift 
up thy hoary hairs, thou aged and anxious President ! Lift 
up your heads, ye Governors of all our States ! And ye, O 
prostrate people! North, South, East, and West, arise, and 
stand in the presence of God, and receive His blessing. 

Let the "distracted and dangerous condition of the country" 
be suddenly changed into its former estate of harmony and 
peace. Let the " Union of the States" be recovered and con- 
firmed. Let the "panic and distress" subside. Let our "la- 
boring population" abound in work and wages. Let the 
"false pride of opinion" be removed. Let " friendship and 
good will" be restored. Let the " horrors of civil war" be 
averted. Let God " remember us as he did our fathers in the 
darkest days of the Revolution, and preserve our Constitution 
and our Union, the works of their hands, for ages yet to come." 
Let all we are thus prompted to pray for be granted unto us. 
Kay, more ; being thus reconciled to God and to each other, 
renewed in all our jDrosperities, and exalted among the nations 
to greater power and glory than ever, let the admiring and 
sympathetic authorities of Europe — Denmark, Sweden, and 
Russia; Portugal, Spain, and Prance; Holland, Great Bri- 
tain, and all others concerned, commend to our protection 
and resign to our rule all their American possessions ; and 
Mexico, Central America, and even Hayti, learn to confide 
in us, and claim our kindness and care, until, from the small- 
est mission in Greenland, to the rudest fort near Bchring's 
Straits, and all around by the shining isles of the Gulf and 
the smoking mountains of the Isthmus, the whole northern 
continent, with all its appurtenances, from the Bermudas to the 
Sandwich Islands, shall have become ours — peacefully, honor- 
ably, happih' ours, with no desire or dream of secession or 
disunion within all its bounds. AVhat now? Is this what wo 
need? Would this be enough for us? Could this satisfy us? 

Ay, ay ! shout the Anti-Christs. That is what we need ! 
That would be enough for us ! That well might satisfy us, 
whether God or man should work tlic change ! 



8 

But, cease your sliouting, ye witless Infidels ! Be dumb as 
death, ye silly Anti-Christs ! This is not what we need. This 
would not be enough for us. This could nei'c?* satisfy us. All 
this, and infinitely more of the same sort, were "nothing, less 
than nothing, and vanity," in compassion with our true want. 
"For what shall it profit a man,. if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul ? Or, what shall a man give in exchange 
for his soul V A man is more than South Carolina. A man 
is more than the United States. A man is more than the 
whole world. Since South Carolina determined to secede, 
how many hundreds of her citizens have died. Since the 
President issued his call for this day of National humiliation, 
fasting, and prayer, how many thousands of the citizens of 
the United States have died. Since the report of our dissen- 
sions went forth to other lands, how many myriads of man- 
kind, in all the world, have died. And, before these dissen- 
sions shall be settled, how many millions more, some here, 
some there, some every where, will have died. AVliat did 
they want ? What do their survivors want ? What, as one 
with them, do we want? A change in the civil government? 
Or, the perpetuation of the government as it is? Alas! for 
the Anti-Christs! 

And so it has been for six thousand years! The earth, 
smitten, ravaged, broken, parcelled out among the nations : 
the nations, relatively, increasing and diminishing — empires, 
rising and falling — governments, forming, flourishing, failing ; 
but, under all circumstances, at all times, and in all places, 
man — sinning, sorrowing, dying ! Such a world, ! ye Anti- 
Christs ! if purposely made so, and hopelessly kept so, were 
a shame, a disgrace, a curse to its Maker. And do ye still 
bespeak for it the innumerable and immeasurable ages ? Aha ! 
God knows better and will do better ! 

' There is a Being, hidden from us, though not we from Him, 
clothed in our own nature, perfected and glorified, sitting and 
reigning at the centre and zenith of this universal circle of 
light and life, of whom it is declared — " In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God ;" and again — " In the beginning God created the 
heavens and the earth:" for "All things were made by 
Him ; and without him was not any thing made that was 
made :" over whose creations, all perfect like Himself, " the 
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 



v: 



for joy." This is He " whose goings forth liave been from of 
old, from the days of eternity ;" even " Jesus, the Christ, the 
same yesterday, and to-day, and forever:" into whose hands 
tlie Father has committed " all power in heaven and in earth:" 
"in whom dwelleth all tlie fulness of the godliead, bodily:" 
"whom, having not seen, we love ; in whom, though now we 
see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy that is un- 
speakable and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith, 
even the salvation of our souls ;" and waiting for the end of 
our hope, also, even the salvation of our bodies, in the beauty 
and glory of the resurrection. From the fall of Adam until 
now, not a year, or day, or hour, or moment has passed, but 
His eye has watched our planet, and His heart been intent 
on the redemption of our race. By the sufferings of IliS first 
advent. He made an atonement for sin itself, and, by the* 
miracles of the second, He will set us free from its conse- 
quences. At the close of his last proplietic interview, with 
His latest surviving apostle. He declared : — " Surely I come, 
quickly ; Amen :" to which the apostle replied, in behalf of 
the church and the world — " Even so, eome, Lord Jesus !" 

I profess no skill, or assurance, in determination of pro- 
phetic times and seasons. I simply wait on the Lord. Never- 
theless, I cannot but understand that we are now nearly eigh- 
teen centuries nearer the fulfillment of the promise than when 
it was given. Neither can I forget that many lines of pro- 
phecy, relating to the same great event, appear to converge 
about the present Era. And neither can I be unobservant of 
the facts — that the world is now open from pole to pole — that 
the Gospel has already performed its office, to a great extent, 
as a witness for Christ among all nations — and that the con- 
dition of nature and society, everywhere, seems to invite Di- 
vine intervention for the resurrection of the dead, the trans- 
formation of the living, the judgment of all, the renovation 
of heaven and earth, the establishment of everlasting right- 
eousness, and the universal development and triumph of the 
kingdom of glory and of God. 

All we can say, is — and this must be said with infinite rev- 
erence — "the sooner, the better:" the sooner Christ's time 
comes, the better for all who wait for His coming. If, amidst 
the conflict of empires, the revolution of kingdoms, the crumb- 
ling of republics, and the consequent amazement and alarm 
ol all mankind, we seem to hear a repetition of the i»romise, 



10^ 

as just about to be realized — " Surely I come, quickly !" — let 
our hearts leap within us as we answer — " Even so, come. 
Lord Jesus !" 

Here is our want — Christ ! " Thou, O Christ ! art all we 
want !" He, essentially and truly, whethei* known or un- 
known, is, " the desire of all nations." Let the Anti-Christs 
say what they will, the only hope of the world is in Jesus 
Christ. I shall gain my chief ohject^ if I can only persuade 
you duly to. remeiviher this. Whatever personal dangers, or 
social dangers, may at any time press upon us ; however we 
may humble ourselves before God, and fast, and pray for de- 
liverance from them; and even though our prayers be heard 
and answered, and the dangers which threatened us be remo- 
move3 — still, in all conditions, and at all times, our own su- 
preme and most urgent want, and that of the whole world 
quite as well, is — CHEIST — Cueist's person, Cheist's spirit, 
Christ's advent, Christ's miracles, Christ's kingdom, Christ's 

GOVERNMENT, CuRISt's PEOPLE, AND ChRISt's PERFECT AND EVEEr 
LASTING SALVATION ! 

Ill— THE NATIONAL CRISIS. 

ISTow, therefore, having borne this humble testimony, in 
behalf of our highest interests, I return, for a brief interval, 
to this solemn crisis in our civil aflairs. 

If v\diat I have hitherto said be true, the best condition in 
which any nation can be placed is that in which the people, 
personally and socially, have the best opportunity and facili- 
ties to understand, appreciate, obey, enjoy, and extend our 
Holy Religion. 

Here, therefore, I affirm — that, since the hour in which the 
Lord Jesus declared — "And I, if I be lifted np from the earth, 
will draw all men unto me" — His cross has never been 
planted in any land, or His redeeming attraction exerted upon 
any people, whose advantages, in these highest of all rela- 
tions, bore any comparison with our own. 

The only ditficulty in demonstrating this, is tlie want of time. 
But you do not need the demonstration. While I speak, the 
globe revolves in the light of thought, and you see that there 
is no other land like ours — no land at once so ample, so vari- 
ed, and yet so completely one — no land so interlocked. North 
and South, through the whole rang^ of both coasts, by inde- 
structible mountains — no land so interlaced, on both shores. 



11 

and all over the interior, by innumerable rivers, ever length- 
ening their matchless courses by endless curves, as though 
they would leave no raviiie unclaimed and no hill unclasped, 
in all the common heritage — no land so washed all around by 
lakes, gulfs, and oceans, sharply defining its own bounds, but 
still holding it adjacent or opposite, open and accessible, to all 
the world besides — no land, in a word, where the lay of the 
soil is so like the lift of the sky, immense, unbroken, and in- 
separable forever. Inseparable forever! What! Would 
any divide it? Let them make the Mississippi a hundred 
miles wide and a thousand fathoms deep— an impassable line 
of perpetual storms. Would any divide it ? Let them turn 
the Alleghanies and the Kocky Mountains East ard West, and 
unite them in a Missouri compromise that cannot be abolish- 
ed. " He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord 
shall have them in derision." As easily might they fracture 
the firmament, from sunrise to sunset, and from the North 
star to the Equator. And so with our people. They, too, 
while I speak, expand before you in the clear thought-light. 
The ci-oss of Christ has drawn them together from all coun- 
tries, and made them one. In the beginning, a few Italians, 
a few Spaniards, a few Englishmen, a few Frenchmen, a few 
Germans, a few Swedes ; but, now, more than thirty millions, 
representing nearly every nation under heaven ! In their 
little, isolated, native States and provinces, they lived side by 
side for centuries, estranged, embittered, hostile ; diverse in 
language, government, religion ; in arts, customs, and usages; 
shut up, apparently, to the bloody necessity of everlasting 
strife. But, here, on this vast, and equal, and happy area- 
free from local traditions of prejudice, hatred, and war— they 
have already mingled, and are still more perfectly mingling, 
in one homogeneous mass, incomparable in all the history ot 
man. Eemember, they have not been driven hither, but 
drawn. By the attractions of religious liberty, and of that 
true civil liberty which flows from it, and by the long re- 
served plenty and quiet of a natural heritage worthy of both, 
Christ has drawn them hither. Tliey have come, not as exiles, 
but as immigrants. They have come of grateful choice- 
They have come with impulsive admiration. They Iiave come 
with tender sympathies and glowing ati'ections. They have 
come on purpose to love us, and to bo one with us. And so, 
their native lands, and governments, and government reli- 



12 

gions, lose their interest ; and, little by little, their languages 
decline, and their habits become assimilated to our own ; and, 
presently, our homes are their homes, and our churches their 
churches, and our States their States ; and we are all, and only, 
and all we desire to be, men, Americans, and Christians — the 
best situated of all the nations on earth for the performance 
of the highest duties and the attainment of the highest desti- 
ny of OHr race. 

And here let me proclaim anew our one greatest glory. I 
remember, indeed, that we are fond of boasting — too fond of 
boasting. We have many apologies for it, but no sufficient 
apology. Perhaps this is one of the chief sins, in confession 
of which we should this day humble ourselves before God. 
And yet, the one great glory to which I refer can never be 
remembered, and ought never to be remembered, without the 
most earnest rejoicing. The materialist boasts of the mineral, 
vegetable, and animal opulence of the country. The intel- 
lectualist boasts of its arts and sciences, its literature and phi- 
losophy. The philanthropist boasts of its institutions of benevo- 
lence. The statesman boasts of its Constitution and laws, its 
freedom, equality, and power. And the religionist boasts of 
its churches and societies, and all its endowments of piety and 
zeal. But, it is not by any or all of these distinctions, that we 
are elevated to the best position on earth for the understanding, 
appreciation, and practice, the enjoyment and extension, of our 
Holy Religion. We owe this to one distinction alone. I mean, 
THE Bible — the free and open Bible — the universally circula- 
ted Bible — the commonly ticcepted, confessedly supreme, and 
Divinely authoritative Bible — the only light in the gloom 
which now environs us, the only hope in the despair which 
presses on us ! When I speak thus of the Bible, I do not 
idolize a book — but allude, of course, to its living and active 
connections with the omnipotent agency of the Spirit of God, 
and the inspirations of that Spii'it, as witnessed in the noblest 
motives, energies, and exertions of mankind. Let the mate- 
rialist go South with all his natural treasures. Can he buy 
back aflPection, union, and peace? Alas, pride is too strong 
for him ! Let the intellectuahst try it, and they will burn his 
books and break his instruments. Let the philanthropist try 
it, and he will need a hundred philanthropists to return him 
safe home. Let the statesman try it, and they will scoff at 
the Declaration of Lidependence, and trample the Constitu- 



13 

tion of the Union under their feet. Let the religionist trj it, 
and he will Hod the fragments of broken churches and socie- 
ties in all his path, his influence forfeited forever, and his 
former brethren prajing against him, that God may confound 
his counsels and prevent the success of his devices. 

But, thank God ! from the centre to the circumference of 
our confederacy, the Bible is still supreme. Its meaning may 
be disputed, but its Divine authority is admitted. It is abso- 
lutely and inviolably sacred. No man, or set of men, would 
dare to add one word to it, or take one word from it. Hero 
it stands : the Book of Christ ; the Brightness of His Glory ; 
the Express Image of His Person ; the Yisible and Audible 
Angel of his Power ; the Higher Law of the Nation and the 
Highest Law of the World ! 

The South reads it historically ; and, as though there were 
no progress, sanctions the present by the past. The North 
reads it prophetically ; and, as though all progress were con- 
summated, demands of the present the improvements of the 
future. Both parties mistake its current applications. Oh, 
when I think of the inexhaustible and yet constantly accessi- 
ble intelligence of this Book; its sublime and comprehensive 
philoso^jhy of God and man ; of Creation, Providence and 
Redemption; of Nature, Grace and Glory; of Earth and 
Heaven ; of Time and Eternity ; its innumerable adaptations 
to all classes and conditions of mankind ; and its invariable 
tendency to enlighten, purify, elevate, and, in every way, save 
and bless persons and families. States and Nations ; I am ready 
to exclaim : Withhold your reckless hands, and spare, O spare 
our Union, if only for this unequalled privilege, that all our 
millions, over all our continent, with none to hinder, but all 
to help, may study together, and yet understand alike, and 
then exemplify alike, the love and truth and ])urity of God, 
as revealed in the Holy Bible ! 

And can it be, that South Carolina is determined to destroy 
this Union ? And can it be, that other States encourage her 
rebellion ? And, can it be, that, suddenly as the evil has come 
upon lis, it is already too late, by any means to arrest it? 

And now shall our enemies rejoice over us? Our enemies! 
Who are they ? Where are they ? By the blessing of God, 
the world is full of our friends ! By the greatness of our 
Union, we have become a chief power among the nations ; 
and by the fairness of our couduct, we have won their respect- 



and aiFection. There was a time when Columbus vainly sought, 
along our southern borders, the golden roofs of Zipangu ; but 
now, by a voyage three times as long, the Princes of Zipangu, 
excited by its fame and confiding in its honor, come- to pay 
their respects to the richer world of Columbus. There was a 
time, and a second time, when Great Ejitain sent fleets and 
armies to subdue our Colonies and ravage our States ; but, 
now she, too, sends her Prince and his train to mingle as 
equals with our people; and to stand with bare brows, and 
tearful eyes, and reverent hearts, at the ha,llowed tomb of 
Washington, l^o, no — even China and Japan will mourn for 
the rent in the flowery flag ! Even Africa, far from indulging 
a feeling of revenge, will stretch forth her hands unto God, 
and pray for us ! And as for the nations of Europe, gradually 
changed, even more than we hoped, by the grandeur of our 
progress and the value of our friendsliip, from revilers to ad- 
mirers — identified with us by ceaseless immigration and inter- 
change of travel and intelligence ; inspired by our spirit, and 
inclined rather to imitate our example than desire our injury; 
England and France, Switzerland and Germany, Italy and 
Hungary, and many a generous and sympathetic power, will 
weep over us ! But, here at home, how shall we restrain our 
own tears, or who shall bind up our broken hearts ? Alas for 
us ! " O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain 
of tears, that I might weep day and night over the slain of the 
daughter of my people ! " Ah ! prophets of Judah and Israel, 
little did ye dream of our greater grief! Ye only lament- 
ed the desolation of Zion, and of the hills and vales around 
it. But here is a vast and varied world, which Jehovah re- 
served through thousands of years, and has now disclosed, en- 
riched and adorned, as the crowning beauty and glory and 
wonder of all time ! And shall such a heritage as this be 
sundered and destroyed ? Clasp thy broken staif with shame, 
O flag of stars ! superseded and dishonored by the pitiful pal- 
metto ! Start from thine eyrie, thou eagle of the morning ! 
shake from thy pinions the dews of the night, and relume thy 
vision in the splendor of the sunrise — lest the rattlesnake, 
crawling up the clifl', shall steal on thy slumber and strike thee 
unaware. God be merciful unto us ! — and has it reall}'^ come 
to this ? Yacaut seats in the Senate ; vacant seats in the House ; 
vacant seats in the Cabinet ; resignations in the Army ; resig- 
nations in the Navy ; resignations in the Judiciary ; a seces- 



15 

sion convention ; a secession ordinance ; a new oath of alle- 
giance ; sabbath sessions; secret sessions; commissioners from 
a foreign State ; warlike preparations ; seizure of forts and 
arsenals ; seizure of betrayed ships ; obstruction of the port 
channels ; slaves throwing up earth-works along all the coasts ; 
freemen leaving their homes, camping out on the wintry 
strand, marching and counter-marching, in instant readiness 
for bloodiest conflict ! How shall we account for this universal 
enthusiasm of utter i-rtaduess ? 

Slavieky ! The liberty of twenty-six millions imperilled by 
the servitude of four ! It is said that the South loves slavery, 
and that the Xorth abhors it. That the South is determined 
to maintain it forever, and that the N"orth is resolved to abolish 
it, as soon as possible. It is an " irrepressible conflict ! " The 
States must be all slave States, or all free States. Therefore, 
the North hates the South, and the South hates the North. 
We are mortal enemies ! 

It is false ! all false ! utterly false ! In the name of God 
and man, I pronounce it essentially and eternally false. There 
is not now, there never was, in all the history of the world, 
.' an equal territory, with an equal population, so diverse in 
c origin and in minor interests, where, because of the attraction 
of the supreme interests of religious and civil liberty, and of 
all forms of material prosperity, the people have so perfectly 
melted into one loving mass, as within the limits of this glori- 
ous and blessed Union. The country is too great for us. We 
do not comprehend it. We must rise higher and look wider. 
We have mistaken the noise of sectional fanaticism for the 
common feeling and judgm.ent of the mighty but silent nation. 
This day the whole land is in surprise and astonishment. I 
do not mean among our sensation cities, always excited and 
multiplying excitements; but hundreds and thousands of miles 
away, among the honest and quiet millions of the interior. 

Hark ! Does this sound like hatred ? " Our southei-n breth- 
ren are in arms ! Soyth Carolina has seceded. Other States 
are about to follow. They think we hate them, and are de- 
termined to oppress them. Ihit it is not so. Are tliey not, 
equally with ourselves, men, Amei cans, and Christians ? We 
love them — purely and fervently love them. What do they 
want ? Slavery in the States? Let them have it : not because 
we approve it, but because it is their Providential allotment, 
for the time being, and they alone are responsible for it. What 



16 

do they want? Slavery in Kew Mexico? Let them try it. 
If they fail, the fault is their own, not ours. What do they 
want? The enforcement of the fugitive slave law? This is 
the duty of the General Government; let it be performed. 
What do they want ? The repeal of the personal liberty bills ? 
If the States were ill-advised in their passage, let tJiem be re- 
pealed. What do they want? The privilege of slave service 
at the national capital, and in their current transits through 
the land? Let them have it, without molestation, at their 
own unavoidable risk. What do they want? Anything less 
than a sacritice of principle, conscience, and honor; anything 
reasonable, proper, and expedient ; anything that God may 
command and humanity yield? Let them have it, and our 
true love with it, and our prayers with our love, that the God 
of the Bible may overrule all events for Ilis own glory, and 
the welfare of the nation and the world ! " Does all that sound 
like hate? 

Pause, then, ye States preparing for secession. Reconsider 
thy course thou lonely State, that hast seceded. Come back 
South Cakolina ; come back to the circle of honest and earnest 
afiection ; come back, with God's blessing; come back, with 
the nation's welcome; come back in peace; come back before 
a single drop of blood shall be shed ! Blessed be James Bu- 
chanan ! if only for this one thing : that he will not, if he can 
help it, consent to the shedding of a single drop of blood. If 
he cannot help it, then be it remembered, that the Ruler 
" beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, 
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Let 
his skirts be clear. Let the skirts of the Army and ISTavy be 
clear. Let the skirts of the still United States be clear. But, 
O LoED Jesus, thou who hast promised to " come quickly," 
come now. At least, in all the healing love and pity of Thy 
Holy Spirit, come now. "Even so, come Lord Jesus!" So 
shall all nations praise Thee, and, looking from afar, exulting 
in our restored, confirmed, and perfected Union, " Behold !" 
they will cry, as with one heart, and one voice, and one hope, 
"Behold! how good and how joleasant it is for hrethren to 
dwell together in unity!'''' 

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be vvith you all. 
Amen." 



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